Headed up Mount Lemmon last night, where lnhammer and I camped out at Molino Basin (elevation somewhere around 4500 feet). Lit our Hanukkah candles in the bear box (it was the only place out of the wind), played Scrabble beside our fire, watched clouds blow over the stars, woke to the stillness of pre-dawn, and watched color find its way back into the world. Morning light turned the brown grasses to gold, their brightness a contrast and a complement to the wildfire-blackened trees all around.

May the new year–by whatever calendar or calendars you mark it–hold more joy than sorrow for us all.